The Real Addressee Of Zelensky's Letter To Putin Has Been Named
- 7.06.2026, 17:04
The President of Ukraine weighed every word in it.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky's open letter to dictator Putin actually had a different addressee. This was reported by the Le Monde edition on June 6, citing sources close to the Ukrainian head of state.
The media interlocutors said that Zelensky had been pondering the letter since late May and for several days weighed every word written in it in order to hurt the Kremlin head and "wound the pride of his enemy." According to a source in the presidential administration, he personally decided on the timing of the letter's release and its content. The official emphasized that despite Zelensky's close cooperation with his partners, none of them knew that he was preparing the letter.
Although the letter was actually addressed to Putin, it was actually intended to attract the world's attention and demonstrate an "outstretched hand" to the head of the Kremlin. Zelensky wrote that Ukraine was proposing an end to the war and suggested a leader-level meeting on neutral territory. Putin responded by first talking about Moscow, before pointing to alleged "elements of rudeness" in the letter and saying he "sees no point" in meeting with the Ukrainian president "yet".
Le Monde noted that the letter made little difference and Zelensky was unlikely to have expected Putin to "welcome him with open arms" or agree to a ceasefire. Instead, hidden in it was an appeal to Ukraine's partners and the Russian elite to "call things by their names and put pressure on the war to stop." Especially since the letter was written against the backdrop of Russian failures on the front, successful Ukrainian diplomatic strikes on Russian facilities, and growing dissatisfaction with the economic situation in Russia, particularly among officials and businessmen.
The authors of the article mentioned a note by Timothy Garton Ash, a professor of European Studies at Oxford University in the United Kingdom and historian Timothy Garton Ash, which was published on May 26 by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) think tank. Ash called it "Here's How to Defeat Vladimir Putin" and suggested that it appealed to Russia's "economic, professional and bureaucratic elite." The historian suggested that this would make little difference in the short term, but "could bear fruit when the moment of change arrives."
Journalists suggested that Zelensky seemed to be pursuing this strategy in his letter. He portrayed Putin as a man stuck in the past, frightened and exhausted by a quarter century in power. In this way, the Ukrainian president allegedly sought to "rekindle the flames of the Russian opposition, which is in mourning after the murders of several of its leaders." He also addressed the mothers of Russians, emphasizing the level of losses of the occupier's army.
Although the letter will not lead to an uprising in Russia, it could "sow confusion among the elites and the army leadership," Kirill Martynov, editor-in-chief of the independent Russian media outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe, told Le Monde in a commentary. He emphasized that the timing of the letter's release was well chosen, as war fatigue is growing in Russian society. Russian political analyst Farida Rustamova, editor-in-chief of the Vlast website, added that the letter appeared after Russian businessmen visited Kiev and reported to Putin that there was momentum for negotiations, and that "Zelensky is playing this card."